Rush to Introduce Coronavirus Vaccine May Compromise Russians’ Health, Infectious Disease Specialist Warns

Paul Goble

            Staunton, August 7 – The Russian government is pressing for the introduction of a vaccine against the coronavirus to the point that not all testing needed to ensure that the one being introduced has been subject to all the necessary testing to ensure safety and effectiveness, Aleksandr Chepurnov says.

            “Until I see studies and scientific publications that say how the vaccine was studied, what level of neutralization is formed, what doses of the virus it protects against and, most importantly, whether it is developing the ability to increase infection by antibodies, it is impossible to talk about the release of a vaccine,” the former head of infectious disease medicine at the Vektor Company says (pdmnews.ru/15172/ and themoscowtimes.com/2020/08/07/russian-virologist-questions-safety-of-countrys-coronavirus-vaccine-a71085).

            In the face of celebratory commentaries about the Russian success in developing a vaccine (t.me/COVID2019_official/1232 and regnum.ru/news/3031299.html), ever more experts are raising concerns about the limitations of the vaccine as a magic bullet to end the pandemic (regnum.ru/news/3031296.html, regnum.ru/news/3031448.html and regnum.ru/news/3031097.html).

            Some specialists are even warning that there are entire categories of the population that should not get the vaccine until more testing has been done or possibly even then (regnum.ru/news/3031554.html and regnum.ru/news/3031669.html).

            And in a related development, the Russian branch of Goldman Sachs is warning that once a vaccine is certified, that by itself will roil international financial markets as investors seek to calculate what the existence of a vaccine in one country will mean for its economy and the economies of other countries (rbc.ru/crypto/news/5f2d2e1f9a79474cf0f0dce3?from=column_16).

            The pandemic continues, however. Today, Russian officials said there had been 5241 new cases of infection registered in the Russian Federation, bringing the total to date to 877,135, and 119 new deaths from the virus, upping that toll to 14,725 (t.me/COVID2019_official/1186). But new government mortality figures for June suggest the number of deaths reported understates the situation (regnum.ru/news/3031671.html).

            Government officials report that the coefficient of distribution of the virus is now 0.96, the third straight week that the figure has been below the critical level of 1.0 (regnum.ru/news/3031141.html).  But that is for the country as a whole. In many places it is higher. As a result, openings and re-closings continue (regnum.ru/news/society/3028625.html).

            The North Caucasus has become a new hotspot, with more cases being reported in five of its regions and republics than the average per capita rate for the Russian Federation as a whole (regnum.ru/news/3031460.html). Another is Russian-occupied Crimea where hotels are declaring there is no pandemic and no need for masks (dailystorm.ru/obschestvo/koronavirusa-net-masok-ne-trebuem-otelery-kryma-zabyli-pro-mery-bezopasnosti).

            The continuing pandemic has affected two government policies: It has slowed talk of any lifting of restrictions on CIS nationals entering Russia (ritmeurasia.org/news--2020-08-07--virus-obnazhil-neobhodimost-otmeny-rossiej-bezvizovogo-rezhima-so-stranami-sng-50305), and it has led Moscow to order doctors to release medical information on children under 18 to the authorities (zona.media/article/2020/08/07/nosecrets).

            In order to make up for budgetary shortfalls, the Russian tax authorities have stepped up their inspections of bank accounts (finanz.ru/novosti/aktsii/nalogovaya-nachinaet-massovye-proverki-schetov-fizlic-v-bankakh-1029481345). And Moscow has changed the rules for shipping some goods purchased online, an action many expect will lead to a rise in prices (krizis-kopilka.ru/archives/78877).

            Meanwhile, in other pandemic-related developments in Russia today,

·         A senior Moscow doctor has warned that too many Russians are wearing their masks improperly and thus making them useless as far as the spread of disease is concerned (regnum.ru/news/3031080.html).

·         Education officials say that despite expectations to the contrary, the pandemic has not depressed scores on the state education examinations (rosbalt.ru/piter/2020/08/07/1857534.html).

·         And Moscow consumer affairs officials are cracking down on retailers selling unproven remedies for the coronavirus (capost.media/news/kultura/moscow-pharmacy-has-sold-dead-lizards-from-the-coronavirus/).